A Sporting Hell During World War II

When I say sporting hell, I don’t mean a hell caused by war violence, but caused by a sporting event during extreme weather conditions. The Dutch always loved their sports, especially ice skating is very popular, Something like a war would not even stop that.

The Elfstedentocht (English: Eleven Cities Tour) is a long-distance tour skating event on natural ice, almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long, which is held both as a speed skating competition (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). The Elfstedentocht is the ice-skating tour in the world. The event is in the province of Friesland in the Northeast part of the Netherlands. The scheduling is only after a prolonged period of severe frost.

After the Sixth Eleven Cities Tour in 1940 and the Seventh Eleven Cities Tour in 1941, virtually no one expected two years in a row organization again. However, in the winter of 1941/42—the frost was even more severe than in the previous two years. Objections that the German occupation would not make the race possible were, as in 1941, put aside. Taking part in sports was not made impossible for political reasons. After all, it fitted in with the German philosophy that physically strong boys could later be useful for the Arbeitseinsatz.

On 22 January 1942, after a long spell of frost, the Elfstedentocht was held again. As many as 4,800 skaters signed up. The atmosphere was extraordinary. Being together in Friesland, free from the Germans with their rules and bans, gave the participants a feeling of solidarity. The Germans could barely comprehend the Dutch fervency for the skating marathon. Given they had little control over the crowded event, they chose not to interfere. In 1942, Sietze de Groot of Weidum won the race. He skated the 200 kilometres in a record time: 8 hours and 44 minutes. Like all the others since 1912—the names—Auke Adema and Sietze de Groot—were engraved on the coveted silver trophy cup that passes from winner to winner, which is still the custom today.

In contrast to the year before and the first five editions of the Eleven Cities Tour, the route raced in the opposite direction and would always return that way afterwards. The route was not well marked everywhere, which meant that entire groups took a wrong course in the darkness of night—eliminating many favourites. Sietze de Groot, an excellent short track rider from Weidum, Netherlands, knew the way. De Groot, with Dirk de Jong from Huizum and Jan van der Bij from Julianadorp in North Holland, sprinted for victory in Leeuwarden. De Groot was by far the fastest.

It took them nearly 9 hours to finish the race—9 hours in severe frost.

Sources

Elfstedentocht Challenge Cup

https://www.noordhollandsdagblad.nl/cnt/dmf20210117_58796059?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic

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Dutch Football During World War II

We are less than a month away from the Fifa Worldcup. The selection of Qatar as the host nation is, to use an understatement, controversial. But I hope it will do some good.

I was wondering though about the history of Dutch football and especially the World War II years, the national competition didn’t halt. Would that have been seen as controversial at the time?

The Second World War was not the death blow for it Dutch football. The numbers show just the opposite: as the occupation continued, both the active and passive interest in sports in general and especially football grew
For example, the number of members of the NVB (The name of the Dutch football association is KNVB-K standing for Koninklijke as in Royal. the occupying forces forbade the royal honorific) clearly saw the growth during the war years.

Below are just some impressions of Dutch football between 1940 and 1945.

The Heracles team won a 6-1 victory against PSV and thus conquered the championship of the Netherlands. Netherlands, Almelo, July 1941 .

Competition match, season 1941-1942, ADO-Feyenoord (result 3-0), The Hague, Netherlands 1942. Photo: ADO goalkeeper Willem Koek, the arbitral trio, and Feyenoord captain Bas Paauwe during the pre-match toss.

First-class division 2, 1940/1941 season, Ajax – Blauw Wit (result 2-1). A game moment in front of Ajax’s goal, the goalkeeper [Gerrit Keizer] punches the ball away. Stadium de Meer Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 23, 1941.

Competition match season 1941-1942, ADO-DWS (result 1-0), The Hague, Netherlands 1941-1942. Photo: ADO goalkeeper Willem Koek punches the ball next to the goal.

The Be-Quick team was being honored in connection with promotion to the first division. Netherlands, Zutphen, 25 May 1944.

The champion team of ADO among the enthusiastic supporters after their victory over Feyenoord (3-0) in the Netherlands, The Hague, 1942.

sources

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=Voetbal&rows=1&page=3

https://www.nieuws030.nl/achtergrond-1940-1945/sport-in-de-oorlog/

Han Hollander—Sports Journalist, Murdered at Sobibor

Sports are taken very seriously in the Netherlands, and the Dutch are passionate about many sporting events. For a small country, it does well in many sporting disciplines. Equally important are the people reporting or covering sports, especially on the radio.

Hartog “Han” Hollander was the first Dutch radio sports journalist. He was Jewish—but changed his name to Han to make it sound more Dutch.

The 11 March 1928 football match, which ended in a 1-1 tie between the Netherlands and Belgium, was broadcasted live on the radio—for the first time in sports’ history and was covered by Han Hollander on AVRO. Who was this man who could speak so compellingly about sports?

In 1936, he was allowed to report and cover the Olympic Games in Berlin, which he did with great enthusiasm. His positive contribution to the Olympic spectacle earned him a certificate signed by Hitler personally.

When the war broke out on 10 May 1940, Han’s career ended suddenly. The German occupier did not take the first steps in anti-Jewish legislation until January 1941. Willem Vogt, the co-founder and director of AVRO, on 16 May 1940 fired Hollander because of his Jewish origin. His once-good friend broke off contact with him. Years later, Vogt lamented that he took these measures—so as not to offend the Germans.

Unfortunately, Hollander did not see the need to go into hiding during the war. He said he relied on the certificate from the 1936 Olympic Games signed by Hitler to protect him. Sadly, Hollander did get deported to Westerbork. After a careless remark from his wife, they were moved to Sobibor. There they were murdered on 9 July 1943. Their daughter’s death was at Auschwitz—murdered by the Nazis on 28 February 1943.

Sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/76033/hartog-hollander

http://www.historien.nl/grootste-sportverslaggever-vermoord-in-sobibor/

http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/lemmata/bwn2/hollanderh

De eerste voetbalwedstrijd op de Nederlandse radio werd in 1928 uitgezonden

https://voetbalstats.nl/opstelnedxi.php?wid=92

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Paris-Rouen: Concours des Voitures Sans Chevaux—The First Motor Car Race

I can’t say I am a great fan of car races. To be honest I don’t get the fascination of the F1-Formula One. However, I have to admit that despite my lack of enthusiasm for the sport, I am still proud that the current world champion is a Dutchman.

It made me think though where did it all start?

Surprisingly enough it goes back further than I expected. It was on this day in 1894, 128 years ago, the first car race took place. It was called “Paris-Rouen: Concours des Voitures Sans Chevaux,” which translated it means race of cars without horses. The race was between Paris and Rouen.

The contest was organised by the newspaper Le Petit Journal and run from Paris to Rouen in France on 22 July 1894. It was preceded by four days of vehicle exhibition and qualifying events that created great crowds and excitement. The eight 50 km (31 mi) qualifying events started near the Bois de Boulogne and comprised interwoven routes around Paris to select the entrants for the main 126 km (78 mi) event.

Pierre Giffard was the editor of Le Petit Journal, a very popular magazine of the time. Through it all, he had organised cycling competitions to attract public attention, and now he decided to do the same for the motor car. Writing under the pseudonym “Jean sans Terre,” in the issue of Le Petit Journal on 19 December 1893, he proposed the organisation of a competition for Voitures sans Chevaux (Carriages—or Cars without Horses) during the following year. The first prize was to go to the car which the Judges deemed best to be “without danger, easily handled, and of low running cost”. Initially, the objective was to cover 50km (31 miles) in three hours, later amended to four because many would-be competitors deemed the original average speed of 10mph “dangerously high”. The final route from the Porte Maillot, Paris, to Rouen, would total 126km, nearly 80 miles. Each car’s finish in terms of coachwork and painting was considered immaterial – all that was required was that the car should move under its own power.

Giffard’s entry window closed on 30 April 1894, by which time no fewer than 102 entries had been received. Their listed means of propulsion contain some wondrous aspiration. Rousselet of Paris entered a car powered by ‘gravity’, Roussat of Paris’s power source was described as ‘hydraulic’, Victor Popp’s was ‘compressed air’, and Leval’s was “Baricycle moved by the weight of the passengers”. Loubiere’s was by “multiple systems of levers,” De Prandieres of Lyons enigmatically ‘Automatic’, while Cesar Barthelemy of Yebles cited a ‘system of pendulums’. Others entered machines variably propelled by a ‘system of levers,’ a ‘combination of animate and mechanical motor,’ ‘electro-pneumatic,’ ‘weight of passengers,’ ‘high-pressure gas,’ and… ‘self-acting’… The vast majority, however, cited petrol, or steam.

The run to Rouen was fixed initially for 1st June but was then postponed to 7th June, before it became very apparent that most competitors would never be ready in time. So a vote was held to fix an alternative date, and by 68 votes to 13, the date of 22nd July was chosen.

69 cars started the 50 km (31 mi) selection event that would show which entrants would be allowed to start the main event, the 127 km (79 mi) race from Paris to Rouen. The entrants ranged from serious manufacturers to amateur owners, and only 25 were selected for the main race.

The race started from Porte Maillot and went through the Bois de Boulogne. The distance from Paris to Rouen was 126 km.

The official winners were Peugeot and Panhard as cars were judged on their speed, handling and safety characteristics, and De Dion’s steam car needed a stoker which was forbidden.

The order of the finishers was as follows:

1. De Dion (Steam) – Count Jules-Albert de Dion
2. Peugeot (Petrol) – Georges Lemaitre
3. Peugeot (Petrol)
4. Panhard et Levassor (Petrol)
5. Peugeot (Petrol)
6. Le Brun (Petrol)
7. Panhard et Levassor (Petrol)
8. Panhard et Levassor (Petrol)
9. De Bourmont (Petrol)
10. Peugeot (Petrol)
11. Vacheron (Gasoline)
12. Peugeot (Gasoline)
13. Panhard et Levassor (Petrol)
14. Roger (Petrol)
15. Le Blant (Steam)

Count de Dion was the first to arrive in Rouen after 6 hours 48 minutes at an average speed of 19 km/h (12 mph). He finished 3 min 30 sec ahead of Albert Lemaître (Peugeot), Auguste Doriot (Peugeot) (16 min 30 sec back), Hippolyte Panhard (Panhard) (33 min 30 sec) and Émile Levassor (Panhard) (55 min 30 sec).The winner’s average speed was 17 km/h (11 mph).

It is funny to see that the winning car used steam as the fuel for the engine. Maybe a good alternative for electric cars?

sources

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1894_Paris-Rouen_Race

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2019/6/the-1894-paris-rouen-trial-the-race-that-wasnt-a-race/

https://group-media.mercedes-benz.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Competitive-motorcar-race-from-Paris-to-Rouen-on-22-July-1894-The-birth-of-motorcar-racing-125-years-ago-closely-associated-with-Mercedes-Benz-from-the-outset.xhtml?oid=43973577

1894 Paris-Rouen

Allan Muhr—Rugby, Tennis and His Murder in Neuengamme Concentration Camp

[First published 14 March 2022—Updated 25 March 2023]

Last week the Six Nations Rugby tournament finished. Ireland won the tournament and the grand slam. The previous champion France came second.

I came across a story of a former French Rugby player, I am surprised that so little is known about him.

Allan Muhr was murdered on December 29 1944, he was starved to death at Neuengamme Concentration Camp near Hamburg.

Born to a wealthy Jewish family in Philadelphia in 1882, Allan, who had recently come of age, travelled on his own to France around the turn of the century. “Allan Muhr planned to fully devote himself to sport in Europe,” explains Fréderic Humbert, an expert in rugby history and the curator of the World Rugby Museum who has researched what happened to Allan Muhr. “He could afford to do that as he lived off his family’s assets and never needed to work. Sport, therefore, became the central element in his life.”

He appears in the 1900 US Census but made a rapid impact on his adopted homeland.

A profile written in 1907 recorded that the newly arrived Muhr enrolled at the prestigious Lycee Janson—taking elementary French classes—purely for the purpose to play rugby, but injured his shoulder during his first match. Despite this setback, he was rapidly a force at Racing Club, playing second row or prop and earning the nickname “The Sioux” for his origins and distinctive profile.

Evidently, he had the time and money necessary to devote himself to a range of sporting activities. While his professions are listed as translation and sporting journalism, he does not appear to have been encumbered by the pressing need to earn a living. That 1907 profile reported that “He amazes us because he is not the slave of any bureau chief or other boss or editor, still less of the rulers of the USFSA (the French sporting authorities of the time). He does what he pleases when he pleases.”

At the same time, the profile noted, he was “a slave to his passion for rugby,”, besides which his enthusiasms for motoring and tennis were mere pastimes. That passion was rewarded when he was chosen for France’s first-ever test match—against the All Blacks on New Year’s Day 1906. Muhr appears at the back of the French team picture, a skull-capped figure alongside touch judge Cyril Rutherford, the Scot who played such a huge part in the early development of French rugby.

At the same time, Allan was a successful tennis player – even participating in the French championships in 1909. In February 1913, he was an active founding member of the International Tennis Association in London. He also took part in car racing as an amateur and played in a Parisian soccer club. Allan even attempted to establish baseball in France, but this was unsuccessful.

Playing second-row alongside the French Guyanese Georges Jerome, one of two black players in the team, Muhr did well enough in the 38–8 defeat to retain his place for France’s first-ever match against England, on March 22 that year. France lost again, 35–8, but Muhr claimed France’s first try against the old enemy, crossing after brilliant work by Stade Francais centre Pierre Maclos.

During World War I, Allan led a voluntary unit of ambulance drivers who transported the wounded soldiers from the front to the American Ambulance Hospital, which had been founded by Americans in Paris when the war broke out. When the USA entered the war in 1917, this organization was integrated into the US Army, and so Allan also became an officer in the American armed forces.

In 1920, Allan ended his career as an active sportsman and dedicated himself to organizing international competitions and developing the French teams in rugby and tennis. He became the vice chairman of the first European Omni Sports Club, Racing Club de France, and captain of the French “Davis Cup” tennis team, which led to international success. He also managed the rugby department of the Racing Club and selected the players for the French national rugby team. When the Olympic Games were hosted in France in 1924, Allan was responsible for organizing the competition and conducting international negotiations.

When war came again in 1939, Muhr reprised his volunteer role with the Red Cross. He was 57 at the time and was married to his Belgian wife, Madeleine Braet.

After the USA entered the war in 1941, he had to go underground to flee from the German occupying forces. He took his son. Philippe with him. Together with other US citizens and members of the French Resistance, they stayed in Sayat, a small village in the Auvergne, for a year before being captured by the Nazis on 21 November 1943. They were taken to the camp at Compiegne where they were interrogated. Allan and Philippe were deported to the Neuengamme in May 1944, where Allan had been starved to death, and died on 29 December 1944. His son Philippe survived the war.

Allan’s services to France were not forgotten. After the war, he received a posthumous award of the Legion d’Honneur—the least he merited for a life which, while it ended under unspeakably grim circumstances, was one of the most varied and eventful in rugby’s annals.

sources

https://arolsen-archives.org/en/news/a-life-for-sport/

http://en.espn.co.uk/blogs/rugby/story/251813.html

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Cycling in WWII-The story of 2 cyclists, one hero, one traitor.

German troops invaded the Netherland in May 1940. The Nazi regime stayed in power in the the Netherlands until May 1945. Although the southern provinces had already been liberated in the autumn of 1944.

Despite the occupation, for many life went ahead as usual, at least to an extend. Sporting events were still allowed by the Nazi occupiers. I have often wondered why that was, but of course sports were ideal for propaganda purposes. It created an illusion to show the citizens that the Nazis weren’t all that bad. Also sports functioned as a distraction.

Cycling has always been popular in the Netherlands. Many Dutch still use the bicycle as their preferred means of transport. But also in a sporting sense it has always been popular and there have been many successful Dutch cyclists throughout the decades.

It is no wonder therefor that the Dutch continued to organizes cycling events like the Cauberg Criterium, which was an annual race in the most south Eastern part of the Netherlands , the province of Limburg, in the town of Valkenburg.

Two cyclists who would have competed in these races were Jan van Hout and Cor Wals.

Jan van Hout was a professional cyclist between 1933 and 1940. He was born in Valkenburg on October 17,1908.

He made quite a good living as a cyclist. With the money he earned as a cyclist he was able to buy a pub in Eindhoven. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands he closed his pub, he did not want to serve any drinks to the Nazis. He was a fervent anti Nazi. After he closed the pub Jan and his wife Anneke decided to join the Dutch resistance. They were involved in providing aid to refugees and people in hiding.

A few months before liberation Jan was arrested during a raid. He was sent to Neuengamme concentration camp where he died on February 22nd 1945.

Cor Wals was a Dutch cyclist, born February 26, 1911 in The Hague.

As early as 1931 Cor got contracts for the six-day races in Chicago and New York and made a name for himself as a six-day driver in the following years. Because of his unparalleled sense of balance, which stopped him from falling of the bike , he was nicknamed “Slingerplant” (Dutch: creeper). He took part in 39 races, of which he won seven, five of them with Jan Pijnenburg . In addition, he was three times Dutch master of the stayers(aka The pacemaker race, an endurance discipline of track cycling)

He was a fan favourite. However on July 21, 1941 during one of those stayers races, he took off his jacket and to the shock of the spectators ,they saw he was wearing a shirt with the SS symbol. He also gave the Hitler salute.

After winning the championship, he was whistled and booed during his lap of honor and cushions were thrown at him. He decided after that not to race again and to focus on a military career with the SS.

Initially he fought at the eastern front but he ended up working as a guard in several concentration camps. There was a rumour that he worked in Neuengamme when Jan van Hout was there, but this has never been verified.

After the war he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but he was released in 1952.

He opened up a clothes shop in Eindhoven . One day Anneke van Hout-Louwers walked into the shop to buy some clothes for her son, Cor chatted with Anneke and cupid struck. The couple got married. Anneke van Hout-Louwers was the widow of Jan van Hout, there was a public outrage about the newly married couple. People were disgusted that Anneke married a traitor. The couple moved to Belgium soon after, they returned to the Netherlands in 1981.

sources

https://www.nu.nl/sport/2415527/sser-won-nk.html

https://amp.de.googl-info.com/5381126/1/jan-van-hout.html

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The Other Side of WWII

World War II wasn’t only death and destruction, there were a few occasions where there was some reprieve. Sports remained very important during the war, to keep up the morale. The above picture is of Private Leonardo Rodriguez of Cartaro, Arizona, roping a calf during the American Red Cross rodeo and “Wild West” show staged in Foggia Stadium in Southern Italy, July 4, 5, and 6, 1944. The steers were furnished by Italian veterans of the last war. All participants in the events were soldiers of the Allied Fifth Army in Italy or Allied flyers based in Italy.

Canadian soldiers checking out their ice skates

Dutch KNIL (Royal Dutch Indies Army) playing volleyball in Australia on a military base

Until September 1944, most sports were still allowed in the Netherlands by the occupying Nazis

A race between two eight rowing teams on the Amstel River in Amsterdam, May 1941

Fanny Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field athlete best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning the nickname “the flying housewife,” and was the most successful athlete at the event.

During the war, domestic competition in sports continued in German-occupied Holland, and Blankers-Koen set six new world records between 1942 and 1944.

Fanny Blankers-Koen is pictured below in 1943 and surrounded by her admirers

Allowing sports to continue was also a tool of propaganda, of course.

source

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/en/imagebank/detail/e7a2f0ee-025a-11e7-904b-d89d6717b464/media/3552e96c-2148-dbfd-115d-29894cf42095?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=sport&rows=1&page=36

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/

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1921 Women’s Olympiad

Today 100 years ago, the world’s first international sporting event for women took place in Monaco. The 1921 Women’s Olympiad was held in Monte Carlo from 24 to 31 March, 1921 . It featured competitors from just five nations: France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, and Norway.

The games were organized by Alice Milliat and Camille Blanc, director of the “International Sporting Club de Monaco” as a response to the IOC decision not to include women’s events in the 1924 Olympic Games.

There were 10 events running (60 meters, 250 meters, 800 meters 4 x 75 meters relay, 4 x 175 meters relay and hurdling 65 meters), high jump, long jump, javelin and shot put The tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, gymnastics, pushball , rhythmic gymnastics and standing long jump.

Leading competitors in this Olympiad ese games included Mary Lines (1893-1978) of the United Kingdom and Violette Morris (1893-1944) of France. Mary Lines won gold in several athletics events including the 60m, which she ran in 8.2 seconds. She died in 1978 in a traffic accident, aged 85. She was rushing to post her Christmas mail and ran in front of a van.

Violette Morris had a slogan ” Anything a man can do, Violette can do!” well she certainly proved that throughout her life, but not always in a positive way .

She excelled in those sports that require strength and power such as shot put and javelin.However those weren’t the only sports she was involved in.

She partook in football,water polo ,road bicycle racing, motorcycle racing, airplane racing, horseback riding, tennis, archery, diving, swimming,weightlifting, and Greco-Roman wrestling,boxing and car racing.

She loved car racing so much that she had her breasts removed to fit better in the car.

In 1937 she was acquitted for shooting a man dead in self-defence.

Her lifestyle was of no shame to her. She lived as a man and made no secret of the fact that her lovers were women. This was considered really scandalous behaviour in 1920’s France. For this She was later banned from competing.

One of her biggest admirers was Adolf Hitler. In 1935 she was approached an recruited by by the Sicherheitsdienst. On the personal behest she was invited to attend the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Morris was later accused of being a Nazi collaborator. On 26 April 1944 she was ambushed on a country road by the French Resistance and machine-gunned to death.

As for the 1921 Women’s Olympiad it was a great success and an important step for Women’s sports. The 1922 Women’s Olympiad and 1923 Women’s Olympiad were held at the same Monaco venue. The 1922 Olympiad often gets confused with the 1922 Women’s World Games, which were held in Paris.

sources

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-1921-women-s-olympiad-one-hundred-years-of-women-s-international-sport

The weird case of Violette Morris

When Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali

On March 6,1964 Cassius Clay announced that he no longer would be known as Cassius Clay but as Muhammad Ali.

Clay had been linked to the Nation of Islam, although they initially had refused him entry as a member due to his boxing career. However when Clay beat Joe Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam did accept him , I can only speculate that this was a good Public Relations move for them.

Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high).

Muhammad Ali had claimed that his old name Cassius Clay was a “slave name and a white man’s name”

Unfortunately this is what happens so often when athletes, musicians, actors or other celebrities get involved in a political movement(although the nation of Islam had religious elements, it was really a political movement) they get very enthusiastic about the cause and sometimes forget to do all the research.

Cassius Marcellus Clay had been a slave owner, but he also was a politician, and emancipationist who worked for the abolition of slavery.

He was a founding member of the Republican Party in Kentucky. It was in this same state where a certain Mr. Abe Grady from Ennis in Ireland, met a free African-American woman and married her. They had a son named John Lewis Grady. He married Birdie Moorehead and the couple had a daughter Odessa Lee Grady . Odessa married Cassius Clay Sr, who was the son of Herman H. Clay(born in 1876 after slavery had been abolished in the USA).

In 2009 Muhammad Ali visited Ennis to trace his routes.

No one can ever deny the genius of Muhammad Ali, but I do think he was a small bit blindsided by the politics surrounding the Nation of Islam.

However all in all he was a great man and a generous human being. When it comes to boxing he was without a shadow of a doubt the greatest. There probably will never be a boxer of his caliber again, especially when you look at the boxing industry nowadays, and I say industry because it is very little to do with sports anymore.

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know a you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2 ,however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thanks To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the paypal link. Many thanks

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Sources

https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014063.html

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/muhammad-ali-irish-roots

Muhammad Ali knocks out Cleveland Williams at the Astrodome, Houston, 1966

Working out on the Titanic.

People all know the story of the tragic end of the Titanic, however what is often forgotten that it was ahead of its time in many ways.

The first-class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins.

The Gymnasium is located on the Boat Deck, accessible via the Starboard Vestibule, off the Grand Staircase. It was described as a wonderful innovation for an ocean-going liner. It had an electric camel, an electric horse, cycling machines, and a rowing machine.

Tickets, were priced at one shilling ($0.25 USD), and were available from the purser and entitled First Class passengers to one session in this facility while guarded by Thomas McCauley, physical educator for the White Star Line.

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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Sources

Mashable

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